Waiting In The Apple Orchard
by fanatic1026
Summary: Seth MacFarlane sets out to win a competition against his sister and meets a woman who is willing to help.


"Rachael, will you please explain to me one more time what we're doing out here at the ass crack of dawn?" Seth whined.

"Remember we're picking apples to use in the pies that we'll bake tomorrow?" Rachael explained. She started heading to the stack of baskets to begin.

"Oh, yeah but why are we up so early?"

"Will you stop whining? God, I love you but you are ruining this trip for Bella." She snapped, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Fine."

He glanced down at his niece. She was rubbing sleep from her eyes. Seth had the good sense to scoop the child up and take her back inside to watch cartoons all day. That would seem like a better idea of how to spend a family vacation. His brother-in-law appeared and handed Seth a basket. He then, picked up his daughter and headed off to the trees.

"Look, why don't we make this a competition?" Rachael offered, stalking up next to her brother.

"Wages?"

"Whoever picks the most and the best apples, gets to pick the next family vacation."

"That's not fair! You have a team."

Rachael shook her head. "No. This is between you and me."

Seth thought about it. The next family vacation was coming up and he had been dying to take everyone to London. He had taken his father but really wanted to show his niece to see the city.

"You're on."

Rachael moved past him to rejoin her husband and daughter. Seth took off in the opposite direction. He looked around him. Apple trees surrounded him and stretched out over the entire farm. He was unsure of exactly where to begin. Finally, he settled on the tree nearest to him and plucked two apples down.

"Help! Somebody please help me!" Seth heard a woman shout just as he set them in the basket.

He spun around to find a woman hanging from a branch a few feet above his head. He raced over. Her muddy feet were kicking the air, begging to return to the ground.

"Ma'am! I'm right under you. On the count of three, I want you to let go. Do you understand?" Seth shouted to her. He held out his arms to prepare for the catch.

"Yes!"

"One… two… three!"

A bundle of limbs, a blue dress and dark brown hair flew towards the grounds. The woman landed in Seth's arms but the force sent the both of them to the ground. When he opened his eyes, he was staring into her blue ones. She was on top of him, their faces close. Close enough to count the freckles that dotted the top of her cheeks. They smiled at each other.

"Thank you, sir." She said. She rose off of him and stood up. She offered him her hand, which her accepted and did the same.

"You're welcome."

They dusted themselves off and shuffled through the silence that fell between them. Seth couldn't take his eyes off her. She was small, probably tall enough to make it to his chest. Her cheeks were as red as the apples that hung from the trees. Her hair framed her round face, which she quickly scooped behind her ears. She was biting in her bottom lip, avoiding his gaze.

"Well, thank you again, kind sir." The woman said apologetically before waving him goodbye and turning to go.

"Would you like some company?" Seth offered.

She peered at him over her shoulder and smiled. "I would like that very much." She said sweetly.

Seth picked up his basket filled with the two apples from before and set off in her direction. Silently, he followed behind before noticing that they were travelling further away from the group. When he finally caught up with her, she was standing in front of a sign notifying them that they were about to enter a restricted area.

"Are you okay, sir?" The woman asked, studying the expression on Seth's face.

"Um, yeah, the sign says-" he started.

"I can read, sir. My question was if you were okay with continuing on."

"I really think we should go back," he insisted.

"Why? Don't you want to beat your sister?"

Seth was about to question how she knew the bet he made with her but shrugged it off thinking of her as a fan. The woman ran forward towards the tree and jumped up grabbing the tip of a branch. Carefully, she pulled it down; making sure none of the apples would fall off.

"Grab a few." She instructed.

Seth complied and reached out to pluck as many as he could fit comfortably in his hands. He dropped them in his basket and examined them against the others. These were considerably bigger, brighter and rounder than the ones from the front of the orchard. They were perfect for making Rachael jealous.

When he turned back to her, there she stood. A smile was spread across her freckled face and an apple was cradled in both of her tiny hands. Her dark brown hair swirled around her face by a wind he had not noticed before.

"Taste it." She offered.

Seth hesitated before deciding to take a chance. He took it from her and took a bite. The bright red skin crunched between his teeth, piercing the flesh. A sweet juice filled his mouth and escaped past his lips, running down his chin. He wiped it away and nodded in approval.

"This is fantastic. How do you know about this area?" He asked when his mouth was empty.

"I used to live here."

"Did you come back to visit?"

"Something like that." She said before turning back to the tree.

He took another bite of the apple and went back to picking. She was again, hanging from a branch this time a sturdier one. While they picked, they made small conversation. She explained that her family used to own the farm and that they sold it to the current owners. So from time to time she would sneak on here for apples to make pies to sell in the market. All the money she made, she saved to move out to Hollywood to become an actress.

"You know, I'm actually a director."

"Really?!"

Seth nodded.

"Wow! I didn't know I was picking with a big shot."

Seth blushed. "Oh hardly. Maybe you're familiar with Ted."

The woman furrowed her eyebrows and cocked her head to one side. "No. I've never heard of that one.

Wh-what?" Seth was confused. He then began to laugh; sure that she was exercising her acting skills.

"What's so funny, sir?"

"Nothing. I just can't believe that you've never heard of Ted." Seth took a seat against the base of the tree, still laughing at himself. She sat down next to him. Her sweet smile returned. You just might make it out there."

"I never asked you but what is your name?" He asked.

"Rebecca!"

Seth whipped his head to the left, in the direction of the voice that called out. It sounded like a man, probably in his late forties based on the roughness in it. Judging by the sound of sticks and leaved that crunched under his feet, Seth assumed that he was a heavy man. He turned back to the woman beginning to ask if she had heard the same thing and found her standing up. She was dusting off her dress in a hurry. He stood up as well.

"Sir, you have to go. It's my father." She instructed. Her voice was laced with fear.

Seth's heart was pounding against his chest. He was unsure of what going on. "Why do I need to leave?"

"Rebecca!" The man called out again.

"Sir, listen to me; you have to go. Run! My father sounds angry and I'm very unsure of what he will do with me."

Seth looked back in the direction of the voice and the sound of footsteps then back at her. He could that something was not quite right. She was staring at him, her eyes no longer the clear pale blue but a clouded gray. The edges of her eyes were turning red and her bottom lip trembled as if she was going to burst into tears.

""Sir, listen to me; you have to go. Run! Don't stop! Don't run back! Keep going!"

Seth took a step towards and grabbed onto her shoulders. She was cold to the touch. "I'm not leaving without you!"

"That's very nice of you but you must."

"Rebecca!"

"Go! Go now! Take the apples and leave!"

Seth looked at her face. She was busy staring at the direction of the voice. Tears rolled down her face. Before he had time to insist on staying again, she was busy pushing him towards the direction they had travel down. He finally did as she begged and set off running back to the front, stopping to pick up the lighter of the two baskets.

"Papa, no!"

In the distance, he heard the cocking of a gun and a blood curdling scream before it was silenced by a shot. Seth had no other choice but to continue before he became the next target. A second shot was fired.

"AHH!"

He tripped over a tree root, sending all the apples to the ground. Seth began to wildly wonder if he had been shot. He appeared to be fine but just as he got up he heard the same rustling from before. His heart raced.

A frail woman appeared through the trees. She looked confused. Seth remembered that she was the owner of the farm, Sarah. "Sir, are you okay?"

"No! A woman- Rebecca- she's been shot by her father!"

"What?!"

"We were back there picking apples when suddenly we heard footsteps coming towards us."

"What were you doing back there? That area is restricted."

"Does that really matter?! Did you not hear me? A woman named Rebecca has been shot."

Sarah held her hands up and slowly stepped towards Seth. "Calm down. We can go back to the bed and breakfast and call the police. They can handle it.

Seth walked around in circles, covering his eyes. He was frustrated by her efforts to calm him. All he wanted to do was go back and save her; whether she would help or not. He took off back in the direction of where he left Rebecca.

"Sir!" Sarah called out. She took off after him.

Seth arrived back at the scene to find it completely empty. There was no body of Rebecca or her father. There was no sign of blood. The only thing that was left was the second basket full of apples. He checked the surrounding area. Sarah appeared next to him.

"Where is she?" she asked.

"I don't know!" Seth answered, sounding slightly calmer.

Together they stood, examining the area, still unable to find anything.

"Now what did you say her name was?"

"Rebecca."

"What did she look like?"

"She's about five foot four, dark brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles over the top of cheeks."

Sarah was silent for a second before her mouth fell open. "Oh my god."

"What?"

"You saw her."

"Of course, I did." He snapped back.

"No, you saw the ghost of Rebecca. I forgot today is the anniversary of her death."

Seth looked at Sarah, unaware of what she meant. Sarah went on to explain that about fifty years ago, Rebecca and her family did in fact live on the farm before it was sold to her family. She also agreed that Rebecca did in fact sneak into the orchard to pick from the trees. Sara retold him of the dream of her wanting to go out to Hollywood to become an actress. Her father wouldn't allow it. She was his only daughter and he didn't want to lose her.

Determined to make her dreams come true, she schemed with a man who was also on his way to California to hitch a ride with him. The day before she was to leave, she came out to pick apples for her last pie to sell. Her father had finally heard of her plan and went in search for her. He was angry. He searched all over the orchard screaming out her name before finding her here. Without a word, he shot her with the rifle he carried. Upon seeing what he did, he shot himself.

"Every year, around this time you can hear her scream and two shots." Sarah said, ending her story.

"But how did I become part of it?"

"Because she still wants to leave. Every year, guy after guy, saying that they saw her. That she lured them towards the restricted area. Most of them don't go past the sign. But the ones that do… well, they get the scare of their life."

A disturbing but calm smile crept across Sarah's face. "Now let's get back, shall we?"

Seth nodded and followed her, leaving the basket of apples behind. A lot of why he was back here was understandable but one thing he couldn't figure out was still how she knew about his sister until he remembered that was her plan to lure him back there.

Just as Seth and Sarah walked away, a delicate hand plucked an apple for the top of the basket. Rebecca brought it to her mouth and took a bite. She walked back to the tree and sat back against the trunk. There she sat; taking turns between chewing on the apple and caramels stuffed in her dress pocket, waiting to still be taken California

"Something like that."


End file.
